What could she do? She couldn't rush out there to help him. She would likely be more hindrance than help, but this couldn't be happening to him twice in two nights.
The noise from the crowd was deafening. She crouched down to yell into Kate's ear. "We have to find George."
"Why?" Kate yelled back.
"Because the lights have gone out." Kate mustn't know her uncle was scared of the dark.
Kate squeezed her hand. "Wait."
Suddenly the thrum of a guitar rang out over the screams of the crowd. The yells reached a crescendo as the next note played and the lights came on with a bang. Kent's voice belted out the beginning of a rock song.
Libby blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light. Kent swaggered around the stage, singing his song, flirting with the audience.
It was incredible. Libby had been expecting to see him in a quivering puddle on the floor.
Kate tugged on her hand. "Did it scare you? He starts every concert like that."
Libby absently shook her head. On stage Kent was confident, smiling, picking someone out of the audience to sing to. She couldn't quite comprehend it. Kent was terrified of the dark and yet he faced his fear every night at work. She had to admire him.
"Where are your earmuffs, Shorty?"
George appeared in front of her and Libby jumped.
Kate looked guilty. "I left them in the room."
"You know the rules. No muffs, no music."
Kate sighed. "Yes, George. Come on, Libby. Let's go play a game."
Allowing herself to be pulled away from the stage toward the dressing-room, Libby couldn't resist peeking back at Kent.
"He's something, isn't he?" George asked as he followed behind her.
Libby nodded, not able to phrase any words. George must have known of Adrian's phobia. He was Adrian's manager and his close friend.
They entered the dressing-room and closed the door. The music receded to a reasonable level.
"Hell of an opener, don't you think?" George asked as he settled down on one of the chairs.
"I think Libby was scared." Kate laughed.
Libby debated what to say. "No, I was concerned how Kent would get on stage in the dark."
George squinted at her, as if wondering whether she knew something. "He paces it out before every show so he's in the right place."
"It takes some guts." Even without being terrified of the dark.
"Yes, it does." George paused. "But Adrian's that kind of guy." There was obvious admiration in his tone.
"Let's play Snap," Kate said.
"Sure, Shorty. Why don't you deal and I'll get us some food?" George stood and left the room.
Kate held up the pack of cards to Libby, questioning.
Libby nodded, but her thoughts were elsewhere.
What kind of guy was Adrian really?
Chapter 3
"Libby, can I ask you something?" Kate had dealt the cards and they were waiting for George to come back with the food. Kate picked up her pile, tidied them and put them down.
"Sure."
Kate fidgeted, patting her cards into place again. "Is it hard to write a book?" She didn't look at Libby as she asked.
"Sometimes." Libby answered. "Getting started is the easy bit. I get a great idea and I write down an outline and have fun creating characters. Then I start writing."
"So when does it get hard?"
"Some days the story isn't flowing or something doesn't work right and it takes time to work out what's wrong. And sometimes, if I've been writing the story for a long time, I get tired of it and want it to be magically finished." She waved her hand about like she held a wand.
Kate giggled and then became serious. "Do you think I could write a book?" She glanced down at her hands and then back up at Libby with hope in her eyes.
Libby considered her answer. She didn't want to make it sound easy, but she didn't want to discourage her either. "It can be hard work, but I don't see why not. Have you got a good idea?"
"I think so," Kate said. "It's about a kid my age who has super powers and is able to save people, like if their car is going to crash, I could swoop down and save them." Kate stopped. "I mean my character could save them."
Libby's heart wedged up into her throat. Is that what had happened to Kate's parents? Had they died in a car crash? Libby didn't dare ask because Kate was obviously uncomfortable. "What would your character be called?"
"Lilly Lionheart."
"Great name," Libby said. "And would she wear a cape?"
"Yeah, with a big ferocious lion on it."
Libby reached into her bag and drew out her notebook. "Okay, so name is Lilly Lionheart. Wears a cape." She wrote down the details. "What color?"
Kate gaped at her. "You're writing it down?"
"Of course. There's no time like the present to get started."
"Really?" Kate bounced up and down on the couch. "Hang on. I'll get my laptop." She dashed across the room to her bag and drew out a small laptop, which she dumped on the table and turned on.
Libby tucked her notebook back in her bag as George walked in with a platter of food. "Ready to get your butt kicked at Snap?" he asked Kate as he placed the platter on the coffee table.
Kate waved him away. "Not now, George. I'm writing a book."
Libby suppressed a smile at the surprise on George's face.
"A book?" he asked.
"Yeah. Libby's helping me." Kate pressed some buttons and began typing, her tongue stuck out between her lips.
"Well then," George said and took a piece of sushi from the platter, biting into it. "I'll just amuse myself." He raised an eyebrow at Libby.
Kate was too absorbed to even respond. When she'd finished typing, she asked Libby, "What else do I need?"
"Have you described how Lilly looks? Hair color, length, style, eye color, height, age. You need to be able to picture her completely in your mind."
Kate went back to typing.
Libby chose a smoked salmon hors d'oeuvre from the platter. She could tell George wanted to say more about Kate's writing, but he didn't dare in front of the child. Libby couldn't see what harm would come of it. It would keep her busy for as long as she was interested.
***
An hour later Kate's yawns were getting bigger and closer together, though she tried to stifle them with her hand over her mouth.
Libby checked if George had noticed but he had his own laptop out and was typing away, oblivious to Kate's yawns. She didn't want to suggest that Kate should go to sleep, in case he thought she should mind her own business.
Someone banged on the door and George went to answer it.
"We've got a problem," a male voice said as George opened it.
George moved toward the man, angling himself to block the view, and spoke quietly, so Libby couldn't hear what he was saying. He looked at Kate, back at the person who was speaking and then back to Kate.
"If you need to go somewhere, I'll be here with Kate," Libby said.
The indecision was clear on George's face. Though Libby had spent the evening with them, she wasn't one of the group and he'd told Adrian he'd take care of Kate.
The person at the door said something, his voice low and urgent.
"Will you be all right without me for a little while, Shorty?" George asked.
"Duh. I've got Libby to keep me company. Go save the world." She yawned.
"If you need me, call me on my cell." He thrust a card at Libby.
"We'll be fine."
George hesitated, then was out of the door.
Kate yawned again.
Now George was out of the room, Libby didn't have any qualms. "How about you lie down on the couch and have a rest? You look tired."
"But I haven't finished."
"There's always tomorrow."
"But you won't be here to help me."
Libby didn't deliberate. Kate was a delight to be around and with an uncle like hers, she would know how to keep a secret. Libby reached into her bag and drew out a business card. Flipping it over, she wrote her email address on it before handing it to Kate.
"This is my personal email, so make sure you don't give it out to anyone."
Kate nodded vigorously.
"You can email me whenever you have a question and I'll answer you as soon as I can."
"Really?" The girl clutched the card tightly to her chest.
"Really."
Kate yawned and looked between her laptop and the couch, still undecided. "You're my guest. I can't go to sleep with you here. It would be rude."
So that was the problem. Kate had been brought up with good manners.
"How much longer will the concert go for?" Libby asked.
"Another hour or so."
Libby leaned forward toward Kate. "Can I tell you a guilty writer secret?"